Arizona Cardinals: Top 3 major roles Isaiah Simmons may play in the secondary

2 - Safety

With Budda Baker likely to return and Jalen Thompson returning, I find it hard to believe Simmons will wind up at safety, or at least full-time. The only way this happens would be if either Baker or Thompson undergo a position change, which I don’t believe is likely given their respective efficacy over the past few seasons, or Simmons lines up as a third safety, another unlikely scenario. 

While it would be cool to see Simmons lining up at the position since it would let him potentially evolve into the Arizona Cardinals version of Kam Chancellor. But you could think of Simmons as a bigger and faster version of the former Seattle Seahawks safety. A scary thought, to say the least. 

Simmons also possesses traits closer to that of a safety. His statistics over the past two seasons show that he’s a sure tackler. And given his spotty skills in coverage, Simmons may benefit from potentially playing far more zone defense than man. So while he is more likely going to line up in the nickel, I personally wouldn’t mind the Cards pegging Simmons in at safety.